Why read Bound by Bondage?

Book cover of Bound by Bondage: Slavery and the Creation of a Northern Gentry

Book description

During the first generations of European settlement in North America, a number of interconnected Northeastern families carved out private empires. In Bound by Bondage, Nicole Saffold Maskiell argues that slavery was a crucial component to the rise and enduring influence of this emergent aristocracy. Dynastic families built prestige based on…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Bound by Bondage as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jeroen Dewulf

Author

Nicole Maskiell’s Bound by Bondage studies intimate family connections and slavery among New York among elite families with Dutch roots.

With the help of personal documents, such as diaries and letters, Maskiell reconstructs the lives of enslaved individuals and, in this way, demonstrates how American elite families of Dutch heritage played a crucial role in the dissemination of slavery in New York and the American Northeast.

From Jeroen's 3 favorite reads in 2023.